The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently published a document entitled 'New and Renewable Energy - Propects for the 21st Century'. This sets out the Government's conclusions in response to its consultation last year on the renewable energy review.

As a result of the deregulation of the electricity market this year under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements, the price support from Non-Fossil Fuel Orders (NFFO) for renewable energy will cease, to be replaced by a renewables obligation on electricity suppliers. All suppliers will be required to source a set proportion of their total annual supply from renewable energy over a fixed period (initially envisaged as until 2025). The Utilities Bill, currently before Parliament, is intended to provide the legislative framework for the renewables obligation. The Government proposes targets for renewable energy generation of 5% by 2003 and 10% by 2010. Government money (including £50m from the first year of the Climate Change Levy) will fund a supporting programme of research, development, demonstration and dissemination, but unused NFFO money will not be reallocated.

It is well worth reading articles in 'The ENDS REPORT' No.31 - February 2000 which explain the Government's proposals in more detail. In one article, it is reported that many onshore wind developers are pleased to see the back of NFFO. Alan Moore, Managing Director of National Wind Power is reported as saying that the competitive bidding process contributed to the sector's controversial image by driving developers to the windiest, and most environmentally sensitive, locations. Moreover, he says, "the need to be secretive because of the auction process has led to lack of local involvement and hindered the planning process". Mr Moore thinks that a wind project funded under the new obligation "would allow less windy sites to be developed and will take us off the more controversial hill tops". Isn't this just what CPRW has been saying for years?

In September 1998, former Energy Minister John battle opened consultation on a NFFO round dedicated to the delivery of four to eight offshore wind projects. All the indications were that wind power developments would move off-shore. Various seminars were held and in anticipation CPRW re-convened its renewable energy Working Group who drafted a new Annex, on Off-Shore Wind Installations, to the 1995 Policy. This, with minor amendments, was approved by Council in March - and a copy will be sent on request. The Working Group are now revisiting the 1995 Policy itself and its Annex A on On-Shore Wind Energy Installations.

The Government's new proposals, however, fail to offer clear support for the less developed renewables - particularly off-shore wind power and energy crops. There will not now be the dedicated NFFO round for off-shore wind proposals. In the ENDS report it is said "There is no prospect that offshore wind or biomass projects could be financed by the market under the supplier obligation mechanism".

Whilst we digest the Government's conclusions, and the ramifications for Wales, the firefighting continues.

In brief, since the last bulletin:

In Conwy:

Mynydd Hiraethog - a delegation which included the Chairmen of the National Trust's Committee for Wales, RSPB (Cymru) and the Snowdonia Society and which was led by CPRW's President, John Elfed Jones, met with the Chief Executive, the Leader and the Chief Planning Officer of Conwy County Borough Council. Assembly Member, Alun Pugh was also present. The purpose for the meeting was to show support of Conwy's refusal of the earlier planning application. A Briefing Note, on behalf of the coalition of objectors, has now been prepared and the Leader has promised to circulate it to all the Councillors.

In Montgomeryshire:

Nant Carfan - a new application for 16 turbines has been submitted with an Addendum to the Environmental Statement which is said to address the concerns of those who objected last time.

Cemaes 'B' - CPRW's challenge to the Secretary of State's decision to overturn the recommendation of the Inspector at the Public Inquiry reached the High Court in London this month. Unfortunately the challenge failed on all counts.

In Pembrokeshire:

Wogaston Farm, near Rhoscrowther - when the planning officers recommended approval of these 3 turbines, CPRW wrote to all Pembrokeshire Councillors pointing out the grounds on which the application could be refused. The application was refused by 17 votes to 2.

The Government published their long-awaited Countryside and Rights of Way Bill on 3rd March. Most conservation organisations welcomed the Bill as an important step forward for wildlife protection and access provision but were disappointed that there is no mention of strengthening protection for hedgerows, landscape features and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, despite Government commitments to do so.

The Bill includes changes in primary legislation that will:

• modernise the rights of way system and require local authorities to draw up plans to improve the rights of way network;
• create a new right of public access to mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land with safeguards to protect wildlife and ensure landowners and occupiers can continue to use the land effectively; and;
• strengthen the protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest with tougher penalties against wildlife crime.

The Legislation Cannot Come Soon Enough for SSSIs

Cases of loss and damage reported on Wales' Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), between April 1998 and March 1999 were released recently via the Internet, as part of CCW's Annual Digest of Statistics. The data, listed at www.ccw.gov.uk, reports that there were 22 new cases of damage reported on 21 SSSIs across Wales in 1998/ 99.

Of the 22 new cases reported, six are no longer thought to be damaging the special features of the SSSI. Twelve of the twenty-one SSSIs affected are expected to recover, with favourable management, within 3 years, but in the case of a further 6, recovery may take as long as 15 years. Three SSSIs, all in Powys, parts of the sites have been totally destroyed.

Hopefully, the provisions contained in the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill will prevent this from ever happening again.

Good News for Some Hedgerows

A legal loophole in the Hedgerow Regulations has just been discovered that should help to protect many more hedgerows. The criteria for determining which hedges are 'important' make reference to hedges which contain 'species listed or categorised [in] Schedule 8 (plants which are protected) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981'. Normally this Schedule includes plants which are rare or have very restricted distribution, but in 1988 bluebells (Hyacinoides non-scripta) were added.

All hedges eligible under the Regulations are now considered 'important' if they contain bluebells - excellent news for hedgerows.

Field Margin Rules

The European Commission issued a ruling that only 2 metres should be allowed from the centre of the field boundary in determining hectarage for Arable Area Schemes including ESAs, Tir Gofal and Tir Cymen. This would have serious consequences for many hedgerows and wildlife as, in order not to lose payments, the incentive to farmers would be to plough up uncropped margins of arable fields and trim back hedges.

Intensive lobbying persuaded European Commissioner, Franz Fischler to delay implementing the ruling this year and now both MAFF and the National Assembly will continue negotiations with Commission officials with the aim of introducing a new regulation that takes account of the importance of hedges to the British countryside.

In stark contrast to the countryside agencies in England and Scotland who have been awarded budget increases, the National Assembly's settlement for CCW for 2000/2001 was a mere increase of 0.8% for its mainstream work. This resulted in CCW deciding that it will have to cut its grants to partner organisations by nearly 14%. This will affect projects carried out by local authorities, wildlife trusts and other voluntary organisations such as CPRW.

As this bulletin was being prepared, CCW was awarded additional funding for specific areas of work.

Tir Gofal

CCW has, also, been promised an extra £3.5 million towards delivering the Tir Gofal agri-environment scheme, which it administers on behalf of the Assembly. This money is ring-fenced and staff working in other areas were drafted in to deal with the first applications for entry into the scheme.

The second window for Tir Gofal applications will be open from 10th April until midday on Wednesday 31st May. For further details and an applicants pack contact the local CCW office or telephone 01248 385500 and ask for the local Tir Gofal office.

After also being handed a standstill budget by the Assembly, the National Parks in Wales have been granted the 'Environment Development Fund' by it. This is for local innovative sustainable development projects. It is administered by the three Park Authorities and amounts to £250,000 per Park per annum from 2000 - 2003. Partnership projects and community involvement will be priorities.

There is also £250,000 per annum to be spent similarly between all of Wales' Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty plus the remainder of the countryside. This is being administered by Environment Wales.

We will be giving further details in future Bulletins but if you have any ideas for possible projects, please contact Helen Mrowiec at Head Office.

The Government published its Road Safety Strategy 'Tomorrows Roads - Safer For Everyone' in March. The Strategy incorporates the outcome of its Speed Policy Review. The Strategy is supported by an accompanying document, 'New Directions in Speed Management - A Review of Policy' which explains the Speed Review findings in more detail. Both documents are available free from DETR Free Publications (Tel. 0870 1226 236) and more details will be given in the summer edition of Rural Wales Magazine which will also include a report from a recent 'Slow Down' conference held recently in Cardiff.

The Warm Homes Bill (See Branch Bulletin 62) received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on Friday March 10th. A total of 143 MPs remained in London to take part and vote in favour of the Bill. Backbench MPs of all parties welcomed the Bill and indeed one MP was reported as saying: "We are witnessing a rare occasion when we are almost indulging in an all-party love-in." There were no votes against the Bill which will now undergo further stages in the Commons and The Lords.

You can now write again to your MP asking if s/he has signed the Early Day Motion 317 which is the Parliamentary Resolution in support of the Bill. At the last count 350 MPs had signed and the Campaign is hoping that eventually 400 will, as just one EDM has reached that level in the last 25 years.

'Biosphere Reserve' is an international designation made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) under the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB). The MAB Programme was launched in 1971 to support harmonious relationships between people and their environments throughout the world. Biosphere reserves provide a global network of sites for co-operative research towards this end.

UNESCO reviewed the criteria for inclusion as a Biosphere Reserve in Seville in 1995 and now, as well as being areas which are important to conserve because of their 'natural' characteristics, biosphere reserves must also be areas where people and their activities are important components.

Wales' only Biosphere reserve is in the Dyfi Estuary, designated in 1972. Its boundary is co-incident with the Dyfi Site of Special Scientific Interest, which includes the Dyfi NNR, Cors Fochno NNR, a Ramsar Site and the RSPB Reserve at Ynys Hir. This boundary very much reflects the 'pre-Seville' criteria for designation, as the interest is primarily conservation of the 'natural' estuary ecosystem. The only human settlement of any size within the Dyfi Estuary Biosphere Reserve is the village of Furnace.

Over the last year there has been a review of biosphere reserve designations in the UK by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions. The review has recommended that their future be looked at on a case-by-case basis. To this end the National Assembly will be consulting on the future of the Dyfi Estuary Biosphere Reserve in early April. As the Reserve does not now fulfil the 'post Seville' criteria there would seem to be two courses of action:

1. Withdraw the Biosphere Reserve designation from the estuary. From a conservation perspective the designation does not appear to offer any better protection of the 'natural' estuary ecosystem than the combined conservation designations.

2. Enlarge the area of the designation, if it is to remain. It would seem sensible to make it a larger area with bigger centres of population. The whole Dyfi catchment would provide a basic ecological unit for research, given that the river seems to be the focus of interest. This would also reflect the area of the Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership, whose aims accord with MAB Programme research aims for a 'post Seville' Biosphere Reserve.

This year the BBC Reith Lectures are called 'Respect for the Earth' and pose the question "Can sustainable development be made to work in the real world?" The six programmes come from around the world and are to be broadcast on Radio 4 on Wednesday at 8.00 p.m. and repeated the following Saturday at 10.15 p.m. The topics, speakers, locations, subjects and dates the programmes are:

1. Governance - Chris Patten from London - April 12th / 15th

2. Biodiversity - Tom Lovejoy from Los Angeles - April 19th / 22nd

3. Business - John Browne form Edinburgh - April 26th / 29th

4. Health & Population - Gro Harlem Brundtland from Geneva - May 3rd / 6th

5. Poverty & Globalisation - Vandana Shiva from Delhi - May 10th / 13th

6. Round Table Discussion hosted by Prince Charles from Highgrove - May 17th / 20th

Summaries of all the speakers' presentations and a virtual 'notice board' for comments are on the BBC's website. The page is www.bbc.co.uk/reith2000

Wrexham County Borough Council is planning an innovative Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to deal with its waste disposal responsibilities. PFI is more commonly associated with road-building, and this is the first time it has been used for waste management in Wales. A recent Wrexham Agenda 21 Forum was mostly taken up with a presentation about what was proposed by the Council and the "preferred developers" (i.e. number one in the running for a 25 year contract which has not yet been let). The "preferred developers" are part of a trans-national Portuguese company with public service interests, including running hospitals in France.

The Council is responsible for organising the collection and disposal of waste in the County Borough. The proposal will not affect the present waste collection system, so the refuse will still be collected, for the immediate future, unsorted. It is about what happens when the waste lorries unload. Waste will be sorted, with metal and other recyclable materials extracted. Biodegradable material will be extracted for composting on site in an enclosed reactor system.

What is really getting local members hot under the collar is the proposal to incinerate what cannot be retrieved and recycled. They are, needless to say, concerned with the pollution from the incineration and were also appalled to learn that the Council has no complementary strategy for the reduction or re-use of waste, only plans to increase public sites for disposing of recyclable materials. The proposal includes a second line to accept ready-sorted commercial waste.

There is no planning application or application to the Environment Agency yet for this proposal, but it will be highly controversial when such approvals are sought. There were misgivings expressed at the Forum about the natural inclination of any company to maximise its return on its investment. Wrexham is at the centre of a highly industrialised corner of the UK, and people were concerned that it would make commercial sense to import waste. There is also, of course, the worry that a trans-national company would be making its commercial decisions in a trans-national environment, and what would be the situation if it went bust or decided to pull out?

Wrexham County Borough Council is committed to establishing itself as a leading authority in this field; if they succeed with this, your Local Authority might be next.

As a result of Powys County Council's Local Futures Process (a Local Agenda 21 initiative) an Environment Roundtable has been established. Discussions within this roundtable concerning roadside verge management led to a Roadside Verges Working Group being set up. The main aim of the group was to bring together various interest groups, including CPRW, to contribute to the review of the Council's Highways Verge Maintenance Policy, in time for this year's cutting season. A code of practice, which promotes road safety and protects wildlife had been drawn up.

The two main topics have been the marking of road verge nature reserves and verge mowing. Perhaps readers could ask their own Local Authorities if they have or have plans to establish a similar group.

CPRW will be holding a residential Study Conference at Plas Tan y Bwlch, the Sowdonia National Park Study Centre, between Friday 1st and Sunday 3rd September 2000.

The primary aim of the conference will be to raise awareness of the ramifications to our landscapes from the current crop of reforms and initiatives which we are trying to comprehend. These include such things as World Trade organisation demands, Agenda 2000 and CAP Reforms including the Rural Development Regulation, Modulation and Objective 1.

Details will be included with the Summer edition of Rural Wales Magazine but please make a note in your diaries now.

Members of the public are welcome to attend and the meetings are expected to last just over 2 hours. After the close of each meeting and following a short break, the Chairman, Chief Executive and Senior Officers will be available to answer questions on agenda items discussed.

Copies of the agenda are available a week before each scheduled meeting and can be obtained from. Central Office: Tel. 01248 385629 Fax.01248 385506 Email: b.roberts@ccw.gov.uk Please let them know if you will be attending in order that they can make the necessary seating arrangements and have an adequate supply of the papers.

Environment, Planning and Transport Committee

The new Environment, Planning and Transport Committee met for the first time on 6th April. The committee's remit is based on the portfolio of the Assembly Secretary for Environment, Planning and Transport, Sue Essex (Cardiff North) which embraces transport and highways; planning; environmental policies; countryside issues; the National Park Authorities and Cadw (ancient monuments and listed buildings). The Committee is Chaired by Richard Edwards (Preseli Pembrokeshire). The other members are Carwyn Jones (Bridgend), David Davies (Monmouth), Geraint Davies (Rhondda), Glyn Davies (Mid and West Wales), Jocelyn Davies (South East Wales), John Griffiths (Newport East), Christine Humphreys (North Wales), Gareth Jones (Conwy) and John Marek (Wrexham).

Sue Essex was formerly a lecturer in Planning at Cardiff University and was a former Leader of Cardiff City Council. She is also a former member of the Countryside Council for Wales and represented it on the Welsh Office Transport Advisory Committee. Before it was split in two, Sue Essex chaired the Local Government, Environment, Planning, Housing and Transport Committee.

Land Use Planning Forum

The work of the Land Use Planning Forum, set up by the National Assembly, is continuing apace. CPRW's Director, Merfyn Williams, represents Wales Wildlife and Countryside Link on the Forum. At its first meeting, working groups were set up to consider the need for further planning guidance on economic development, rural/countryside, housing, design and sustainable development/spatial issues. At its second meeting the Forum also convened a working group covering transport.

The Forum will report to the Environment Committee with recommendations for inclusion in a second revision of Planning Guidance (Wales):Planning Policy in order to make it more in tune with Welsh needs and how the strategic spatial dimension can be enhanced. The second revision will then be issued in draft for full public consultation.

A Sustainable Wales

The National Assembly has a duty under section 121 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 to promote sustainable development in the exercise of its functions. The Act requires it to make a Scheme setting out how it is proposed to implement the duty and a consultation is currently underway about this.

The summary paper is available from the Sustainable Development Unit, National Assembly for Wales, Floor 1, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or it can be views on www.wales.gov.uk/polinifo/sust_dev/sustaina1_e.htm

Planning Decision Committee

Decisions on major appeal cases and called in decisions will be taken by a planning decision committee, drawn from the Environment, Planning and Transport Committee. The standing orders require members to be trained before they can be a member of a planning decision committee and training sessions are currently being arranged.

Sue Essex announced in March that CCW are to consult on a further five sites in Wales that appear to meet the criteria for classification as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds.

The new sites under consideration are:
Craig-Yr-Aderyn (Nr Tywyn, Gwynedd) - Chough
Dyfi Estuary - Greenland White-fronted Goose / Wigeon
Migneint a Dduallt (Conwy/Gwynedd) -Hen Harrier / Merlin
Porth Ceriad (Llyn Peninsular) - Chough
Ynys Seiriol/Puffin Island (Anglesey) - Cormorant.

The SPA designation (under a European Commission Directive) gives public recognition to the international importance of the site and means that development proposals that would be detrimental to the nature conservation interest will be permitted only in very exceptional circumstances.

The National Assembly is responsible for making appointments to the Ancient Monuments Board for Wales and the Historic Buildings Council for Wales, and advises on appointments to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

At present they are seeking assistance in identifying suitable people to fill vacancies on these organisations. Expressions of interest are invited from those who have a record of high achievement in their area of experience and expertise. In addition they should have the ability to take an independent and objective view of the issues, to work co-operatively with others to achieve consensus and to analyse and evaluate complex information.

Further information on the bodies and how to express an interest available from Head Office. Applications are welcome at any time, but the closing date for applications for the current vacancies on the Ancient Monuments Board will be 28th April 2000.

As reported in the last Bulletin, and in the Spring edition of Rural Wales, CPRW's Honorary Life Vice-President, Lady White, passed away last December. A Service of Thanksgiving for her life is to be held at Noon on Wednesday 17th May at St. Margaret's, Westminster. If you would like to apply for a ticket, contact The Protocol Officer, Room 17, Chapter Office, 20 Deans Yard, Westminster London SW1P 3PA enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope (6"x 4").